An Inadvertent Advent
by JuniperGentle
Summary: Kyouya is rather disgruntled to find that his plans for a peaceful, training-filled Christmas have been gleefully subverted by the combined forces of everyone else. An Advent calendar of sorts. Completed, Happy New Year!
1. Door 1

_I started writing these to procrastinate from an essay. Ooops. Hopefully this will kind of make up for my unfinished and on semi-hiatus fics which I'm trying REALLY hard to get chapters finished for in time for Christmas presents. Masters courses are scary._

 _I've called this an Advent calendar, but as you may have noticed it's starting a week late (reason: aforementioned essay). So it'll go on until January 1st to make up for that. Note: though you get one "door" every day, some of the entries take place on the same day as each other._

 _Enjoy your little Advent calendar, courtesy of our grumpy Lion._

* * *

 **Voice Log 001**

 **Date:** December 20XX

 **Time:** 14.21

 **Location:** Somewhere in the forest

Look, when I said I'd 'turn up' for this stupid Christmas/Hannukah/Solstice/Shopping/whatever holiday that lot want to celebrate, I didn't mean that I'd _help._

So would someone kindly tell me why I'm currently stuck somewhere in the middle of a forest with no idea where I am or where my supposed guide has got to?

All I know is that just after we finished breakfast this morning, I got shoved out of the door along with Tsubasa and got told to "go and find some nice decorations, Kyouya, thank you! And don't come back too early, you'll ruin the surprise!"

First of all, what surprise? It's not even the right day yet, so it can't be that they're cooking stuff or making things... unless Yuu has persuaded them to hand-make presents this year. Uh. Nope. Give your head a shake. Not happening.

And secondly, why am _I_ the one getting decorations? And why aren't we in, oh I don't know, a _shop?_

Again: Forest. Lost. _Why._

I know I could probably find my way out on my own, and at this point I'm very tempted to, but I _also_ know that Tsubasa could get me out of here in about a third of the time it would take me, and it's going to get dark soon. Huh.

To be honest, I'm not quite sure when I lost Tsubasa. The guy doesn't talk much and he walks like a shadow, so it's kind of hard to keep tabs on him even if you're trying to. I only noticed he was gone when I got to a river and had to look around for a ford. That was about twenty minutes ago. I'm pretty sure he knows he's lost me at this point because there's no way I'm as quiet as him and he's like that eagle he keeps, all sharp eyes and keen senses and swift-wings-of-death kind of thing.

Which is why I'm wondering why he hasn't found me yet...


	2. Door 2

**Voice Log 002**

 **Date:** December 20XX

 **Time:** 23:20

 **Location:** Gingka's house

Yeah, we made it back. We missed dinner so Madoka and Benkei got a bit mad at us, but who cares.

Turns out Tsubasa didn't trust me to not collect poison ivy instead of holly, (um, hello? I've lived in the wilds too, pal. Just because it was Africa doesn't mean I don't recognise dangerous plants) so he just went off on his own until he found what he wanted, then came back and I had to carry most of it home.

I repeat – THIS WAS NOT WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR.

Maybe I'll just stay out of the way for the next few days. Seems safer. However, will need to find a suitable hiding place, as the others are very persistent. Yuu is especially keen, and that little boy Tithi is here too so double the loud voices. Great.

There wasn't even a surprise. Guess they just wanted us out of the house for the day so they could do... _something._ I don't really care. At least I got a battle out of it – Gingka looked like he'd been cooped up in a house of madness for way too long so I dragged him outside to battle. Hikaru spotted us through the window, though, and stopped the battle before I won, though she said it was "before you destroy the garden again" as if I've destroyed the garden before?

Definitely don't remember doing that.

OH.

Maybe she meant...

Ah. Oh yeah.

Never mind.


	3. Door 3

_Whoops, a bit late, sorry! Blame the taekwondo Christmas dinner overrunning._

* * *

 **Voice Log 003**

 **Date:** December 20XX

 **Time:** 17:14

 **Location:** Training warehouse

This was an _excellent_ plan. Can't believe I didn't think of this place before. No people, no decorations, no holly (who in their right mind let Yuu put the holly up? One, he's too small and two, he left bits on the chairs. Ouch) and most importantly no-one telling me to go and do stupid things like "oh, run to the shops and get some more raisins, Kyouya!" "Oh, don't we need some more baubles?" "Kyouya, help me put the holly up around the top of the doorways, I'm too small"

Of course you're too small, Yuu. That's why Tsubasa calls you little boy.

I said I'd join them for three reasons – one, because staying with Gingka means I can fight him any time I want. Two, because they promised me food that I didn't have to catch and cook myself. Three, because I get to battle Gingka any time I want.

If I'd known that saying I'd turn up early meant I'd be helping put up decorations and write cards and wrap presents and stupid stuff like that, I'd have turned up on the 24th instead.

It's fine, though. I can hide out here and keep training like I was going to do anyway. I've been here all day so far and it's not bad at all. No-one knows I train here, after al-

 _[clatter]_

What was that?

 _Kyouya pal? You here?_

No-one knows except Benkei. Great. Now I've got to find somewhere else to hide – I mean, to train for beating Gingka.

Maybe the old coliseum will be empty? I'll have to go and look tomorrow.

They'd better not ask me to go and get a tree with Benkei tomorrow.


	4. Door 4

**Voice Log 004**

 **Date:** December 20XX

 **Time:** 10.23

 **Place:** Garden centre

CALLED IT.

.

 **.**

 **Voice Log 004.5**

 **Date:** December 20XX  
 **Time:** 12.44

 **Place:** Front room, Gingka's house

There is now a very large tree in the front room of Gingka's house, and when I say 'very big' I mean it's a foot and a half taller than Benkei and about a foot and a half wider than him too. It was very heavy.

Madoka wanted a smaller tree because, and I quote, "Small ones are easier to decorate, Kyouya. I don't think we can even get that one through the front door."

So let me get this straight – after deliberately sending me out to get more decorations, you just want to put them on a piddly little tree that Tithi can look over the top of? Nope. Give your head a shake, pal. If you send me out to get the tree, you don't get to pick which one I want. My Christmas tree, my rules. We're going to have the best-looking tree in the _city.  
_

(I still don't really get why people decorate trees for Christmas, but if it has to be done then I'm going to be the best at it. Masamune showed us a picture of the tree in his gym in America and he seems to think that because his has got candy canes on it, his is better than mine. It isn't.)

(Also I have discovered that Gingka thinks he can decorate trees faster and better than anyone else. I don't believe this for a second. So we will race, and I will win, because he is Gingka and I am Kyouya.)

No time for training today, too busy making my side of the tree look better than Gingka's side. Madoka called us both ridiculous and petty but my half of the tree looks awesome so I don't care.

* * *

 _Thank you for all the reviews! What with updates every day it's more difficult for me to reply to all of you individually, so thank you all!_


	5. Door 5

**Voice Log 005**

 **Date:** December 20XX

 **Time:** 15.15

 **Place:** Old Coliseum

Finally managed to escape Hikaru for long enough to get out here. She seems to think that mine and Gingka's tree looks "ridiculous" which is stupid because only _half_ of it looks ridiculous.

Masamune got jealous and wants to get another tree so he can race with Gingka too but Ryo said no, one tree was enough. Hah. I think he's sulking somewhere now.

I've got a new move I want to work on with Leone. I tried to grab someone to practice on (it works by bouncing off the other blade) but everyone was busy. Guess I'll just do some slalom runs, then.

The house is starting to get really full now. There's Gingka, his dad, Madoka, Hikaru, me, Benkei, Kenta, Yuu, Tithi, Tsubasa, Masamune and Yuki, and apparently Hyoma is meant to be arriving tomorrow. Considering that I'm the Lone Lion, that's way too many people. Gingka doesn't think so – he wants to invite _everyone_. The worst bit is that everyone else seems to be going along with it, as they usually do with Gingka, and no-one is listening to me when I point out that even if we use Madoka's house and Kenta's house, we actually can't fit everyone in.

Why do people want to travel at Christmas? It's cold and dark, and unless you're in training (like me) there's no point in freezing to death just to get somewhere. They should just stay at home and leave us alone. Christmas with only a few people might not be so bad, but there's no way I'm hanging around if there's forty people in the house. Nope. No way.

Oh be quiet Leone.

I... I didn't even know lions could sing. What.

Great. Now you've got _It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas_ stuck in my head. Thanks _so_ much.


	6. Door 6

**Voice Log 006**

 **Date:** December 20XX

 **Time:** 11.24

 **Place:** Old Coliseum

What.

I don't understand what...

Why is there tinsel all over the coliseum? There's a set of fairy lights around the entrance arch. What.

Are those..?

 _Baubles? Yes, Kyouya._

Tsubasa? What are you doing here?

 _Decorating._

Why.

 _I thought the place could do with some more festive cheer. You were so enthusiastic about decorating the Christmas tree, I assumed you'd want your usual haunts decorated too._ _So I decided to help._

...I am going to destroy you.

Slowly.

Carefully.

Painfully.

Stop grinning like that and fight me.

.

Hmm. Tsubasa's been training. He was much better than I remembered. Still a phenomenal blader even without the Star Fragment power. If he was a bit less concerned with being neat and elegant and following the rules all the time, he'd be almost as good as me.

So on the plus side, he's agreed to battle me out here whenever both of us get too claustrophobic in that house of way too many people, because even he agrees that 'everyone' is far too many people to have in one place.

On the down side, his conditions were that the decorations had to stay up, so now we're going to be fighting surrounded by glittery stuff, which is actually really distracting.

Maybe if I battle him really hard and use Leone's new special move, I can blow all the tinsel away.

… the fairy lights can stay, though. I like those. They're surprisingly tasteful. Also useful because that archway is the main entrance and it's really dark without those lights. Battles in the dark are cool and all, but it's not so much fun to try finding your blade when it stops or gets a stadium-out.

I've just given permission for my battles to be lit with Christmas lights. What is _wrong_ with me today?


	7. Door 7

**Voice Log 007**

 **Date:** December 20XX

 **Time:** 15:16

 **Location:** My room, Gingka's house

Currently hiding from the festivities war band that is Madoka, Benkei, Masamune, Gingka and Yuu, all of whom are determined to get me to help them set up more decorations. One of 'em I could take or yell at or get away from, but five? With the backing of the Irritating Phoenix and Hikaru of all people? Not happening.

(Note to self – wardrobe is an _excellent_ place to hide. However, somewhat cramped and I may have inadvertently locked myself in.

Huh.

I actually have.

Well, that sucks.)

Never mind. Even less opportunity to "get involved and have fun" as Madoka keeps suggesting. No thanks. Look, just because I helped with the tree doesn't mean that I'm going to help put tinsel and fairy lights and _mistletoe_ up everywhere. We have (half) the best tree in the city, but African tornadoes couldn't persuade me to venture into Gingka's front room right now. It looks like a glitter bomb hit it and had babies with three miles of wool that was then thrown into a field of kittens for several hours.

That is the oddest sentence my brain has ever come up with. I'm not sure if I should consider that an achievement.

I _would_ have gone out training, but that would have required getting past the kitchen where Hikaru is running the whole show. I do actually value my life, so _no._ At least Leone's keeping me company in here, though I must admit he is much more into the festive spirit than I am.

Look, Leone. You know I don't like people very much. I like groups of people even less. I like _loud_ , _energetic_ groups of people least of all. Christmas is good for free food and sleeping in the warm, but glitter? Presents? Shopping? _Other people?_ No thank you.

I kind of wish I was in Africa. At least then I'd have Nile and Demure.

Instead I'm stuck in a wardrobe. I can only hope that someone _sensible_ will eventually find me. Otherwise I'll just have to break the door down with Leone and then everyone will get angry because I broke things again.

* * *

 _One of the working titles of this was "The Lion, The Kitsch and the Wardrobe". The other two were "Advent Advent-ure" and a joke only my family will really understand, "See Him Lion"_

 _On a different note, the fact that stats aren't working properly right now means that at the moment Chapter 5 has 0 hits and 6 reviews and I find that hilarious._


	8. Door 8

**Voice Log 008**

 **Date:** December 20XX

 **Time:** 18.19

 **Place:** My room, Gingka's house (again)

 _Yes,_ I'm back in the wardrobe. _No,_ I didn't have to fight my way out the first time. Dynamis found me.

… which is really creepy now I think about it because I didn't even know he was here. How did he know _I_ was here?

Talking of people who weren't here earlier, turns out the reason why the festivities group were on the warpath was because there was a big group of people arriving. So now in addition to everyone else, Masamune's American friends are here, along with Chris and King, Dynamis (obviously), Hyoma (who got stuck in a snowstorm for a few days or he'd have been here earlier) and Team Wang Hu Zhong (who I'm actually pleased to see because it means we'll get loads of good food).

Which means there are now one-two-three-four-five-six – _way too many_ people in the house. Well, houses. Even Gingka's finally admitted that twenty-two people is too many for his house so now Wang Hu Zhong, Tsubasa, Yuu and Tithi are staying with Madoka, and Masamune and his friends, Chris, King and Yuki are staying with Kenta. That still means there's nine people in Gingka's house, but at least most of them are sensible. Everyone's going to be here during the day, though, so it's stupidly crowded.

And what do you know. Mr Irritating Phoenix has set up mistletoe everywhere. Almost every doorway except the outside doors, and there's some under the lights as well.

This is a Very Bad Idea. I don't like it one bit. Hence the staying-in-the-wardrobe. No-one else was very happy either when Ryo announced it, and before I came up here to just avoid it altogether, there was a vague consensus that anyone moving around the house made enough noise that they could be heard coming and therefore be avoided. It's working okay so far, I think, because I haven't heard any yells from downstairs, but dinner time is going to be interesting.

I really don't know why the Irritating Phoenix decided to be this – er, irritating.

Not looking forward to dinner. Maybe I'll just stay up here in the wardrobe with Leone and go and scavenge for food later when everyone is asleep.


	9. Door 9

**Voice Log 009**

 **Date:** December 20XX

 **Time:** 10.56

 **Location:** Outside main shopping centre.

I have been captured. Repeat, I have been captured, mayday, mayday. This is a plot I swear and I never thought I'd say this but I seriously wish Tsubasa was here because he's the only one that can control that little _brat_ Yuu Tendo who has somehow managed to drag me all the way here.

For the record, I did _not_ promise to buy him ice-cream because I didn't help with putting up that stupid mistletoe (which, by the way, everyone is still avoiding like it's infested or something. 0 kisses so far.)

Who even wants ice-cream in the middle of winter anyway? Except Yuu. He doesn't count. Fine, and Tithi, who's just as weird as Yuu and Yuu is definitely a bad influence on him. And maybe Gingka, because I don't understand that guy some days.

So now I'm here. I don't want to get yelled at by Tsubasa or Madoka so I don't want to leave Yuu or Tithi on their own here (I'm not one hundred percent sure Tithi actually knows the way back) but I'm not a babysitter!

There isn't even much to do here except sit and wait for Yuu to get back. He took my wallet and ran off, so I can't even go and get myself some food. This _sucks._

Wait a minute. That's Aguma over there. What's _he_ doing here?

… I'm gonna go fight him.


	10. Door 10

**Voice Log 010**

 **Date:** December 20XX

 **Time:** 13:22

 **Location:** A bit further outside main shopping centre

Aguma and I are now banned from the shopping centre for life, but I won so I don't care. Bao (when did he show up? Creepy...) is still glaring at me because apparently he's also banned even though he wasn't involved. Hah.

Why does he care? It's not like he lives here, so it doesn't even affect him all that much.

Apparently Aguma and Bao were invited by Gingka to join in the utter insanity that is twenty-two – no, twenty- _four_ people now – in one house for the 25th. For some reason, neither of them took my advice to just turn around and go home before the craziness got them, but at least if Aguma's here I'll have a decent battle partner for whenever Gingka's not around. And Aguma and Bao are actually sort of sensible (apart from the whole not-leaving-before-they-get-caught-in-the-chaos thing) so I'll have back-up if anything gets too out of hand. Which makes six of us who are more sensible than crazy.

Which isn't actually all that many now I think about it. Oh well. I'm the Lone Lion so I don't need other people as back-up. All I really need is Leone.

I haven't told Aguma and Bao about the mistletoe yet. I want to see their faces when they walk through the door. Though if I want to do that I'm going to have to find Yuu and Tithi pretty quickly because it's getting dark and if we're not all back by dinner time Benkei and Madoka will get mad at us.

Why is it so hard to find two such noisy people?


	11. Door 11

**Voice Log 011**

 **Date:** December 20XX

 **Time:** 21.09

 **Place:** Kitchen, Gingka's house

I HAVE CHANGED MY MIND, MISTLETOE WAS THE BEST IDEA EVER.

So Mr Irritating Phoenix had a lot of fun laughing at all of us trying to avoid walking through doorways or under lights at the same time as each other, and then told us at dinner that ending up under the mistletoe together didn't mean we had to kiss.

It means we have to _battle._

Masamune has been camped under the kitchen doorway mistletoe for three hours. I haven't had the heart to tell him that Gingka's at the shops with his dad, mostly because Yuu and Benkei keep wandering into the kitchen and Masamune versus Yuu is always a fun battle to watch.

I'm in the kitchen so that I can watch almost all the battles out in the garden at the same time. Kenta's currently fighting Dynamis, which is actually a really good battle because I didn't realise Kenta got that strong. When did that happen? He's currently kicking Dynamis' backside all around the beystadium, though I'm not sure if Dynamis is actually letting him do that deliberately or not. In the other dish, Masamune and Yuu are having their third round, and it's currently one-all. There's a third battle going on right at the back of the garden between Da Shan and Hikaru, which I wish I could see better but it's really dark, and I think Chao Xin and Bao are battling out front.

And for the first time since I arrived, I'm not considering just leaving tomorrow morning, because this means _compulsory battles with anyone I meet from now until Christmas._ There is no present anyone could buy that would make me happier.

I'm going to try and get King first to get him to shut up about beating Tsubasa half an hour ago. Then I'm going to find Chris because I think he's avoiding me which means he's scared which means I'm definitely not letting him get away.

After that... well, we'll have to see.

And I'm getting Gingka first thing tomorrow morning. I have a _plan._


	12. Door 12

**Voice Log 012**

 **Date** : December 20XX

 **Time** : 06.34

 **Place** : Main hallway, Gingka's house

Plan A is in motion.

There is no way that Gingka will be the first awake. This is an issue, as I have no intention of waiting for him for more than an hour. We have battling to do, after all.

However, I have enlisted help in the form of Hikaru and Tsubasa (Tsubasa threatened a _price_ which worries me somewhat) and breakfast will be bacon and eggs.

From experience, there is no force in this world capable of keeping Gingka away from the smell of cooking bacon. Therefore, I am stationed close to, but not under, a useful set of mistletoe (thank you, Ryo!) which Gingka must pass before reaching the kitchen.

As for why I am not _under_ it, _that_ is because I am fully aware that Benkei, Masamune and...

\- someone's coming.

 _Kyouya? What are you doing down here?_

None of your business, Da Shan.

 _There's no need to be unfriendly, I was merely curious. Ah. The mistletoe. I take it you are waiting for Gingka._

Who else?

 _Perhaps one of your other friends. Tsubasa, maybe, or Aguma. You seem to enjoy your battles with them._

I don't _have_ friends. I have rivals. I battle them and I win.

 _Well, they seem to think you have friends. Perhaps you might like to listen to them every once in a while. You might find they have some very interesting things to say._

I'm not interested in talking to them. Battling, yes.

 _Then may I claim the next battle after you have fought Gingka? I have often wondered what Zarafa and Leone would make of each other, as we never had the chance to meet in the World Championships._

...Fine. But _after_ Gingka.

 _Of course. Would you like me to save you some breakfast? Or – ah, now I see. That was a very clever ploy, Kyouya. There is indeed nothing that will get Gingka out of bed early except for the smell of breakfast. I will leave you to your plotting._

I am not -

I'm not _plotting._ It's a very clever _plan_ that is completely foolproof. It's also Gingka-proof. Now, just to wait until Gingka appears... can't be long now.

 _Hey, can anyone else smell bacon cooking or am I still dreaming?_

Plan A, go!


	13. Door 13

**Voice Log 013**

 **Date:** December 20XX

 **Time:** 14:10

 **Location:** Outside main shopping centre... again

Battle with Gingka was two days ago. Apparently it was a tie and we both passed out, same as the World Championships. Drat. Now banned from having matches again until after Christmas on threat of our blades being confiscated. This time, I admit, we _may_ have destroyed the garden.

However, there is a larger issue.

I have discovered a fatal flaw in my otherwise excellent decision to battle Aguma here and then get banned for life: I can no longer use this place for Gan Gan Secret Immortal Galaxy Phoenix Santa (or whatever we're calling it? Gingka's dad is weird.).

This is actually a major problem. I had not foreseen this.

Also, I have _Zeo._

This is also a major problem. I'm not actually certain which one he is. Though to be fair, I know most of the others so logically he must be one of the ones I don't know. Bonus points for Kyouya!

...that sounded way better in my head.

He's got to be one of the ones that hangs around with Masamune. I've fought two of them, and neither of them had a dumb name like Zeo so it's not blonde-hair-scary-face-blade (Chris) or my-hair-changes-colour-when-I-fight (King). So it's either silver-should-be-in-a-wheelchair or brown-yellow-and-eternal-guilt.

Forget it, I'll just get a random present that any of them can have. I don't really care about this whole present thing anyway.

I wonder who's got me.


	14. Door 14

**Voice Log 014**

 **Date** : December 20XX

 **Time** : 17.17

 **Place** : My room, Gingka's house

Back in the wardrobe yet again, this time to avoid Gingka, who is insisting that everyone come and help make cookies in the kitchen. I don't even like cookies, why should I have to make the darn things?

By some miracle, no-one's worked out that this is my hiding place yet, except for Dynamis because he found me the first time I locked myself in here.

Turns out that Zeo is brown-yellow-and-eternal-guilt (thank you, King, for addressing him very loudly by name at the dinner table yesterday). This is actually kind of useful, although even after explaining things to the managers, I'm still banned from the shopping centre. I'll just have to be smart, and I'll probably have to walk to the next city. At least it's good training.

There's two ways I could go about this – get some random present that he _might_ like that isn't much bother for me to get, or beat everyone else's presents out of the park because mine is so good. _Very_ tempted to go with the second option.

Shut up Leone. I'm allowed to be competitive outside of the beydish as well as inside it.

Also, there's _more_ people arriving. No idea who (not sure if I can actually remember the names of anyone who isn't here right now, except the European bladers... and why would they be coming here if they have their own houses and families to go to?

Though with that said, Wang Hu Zhong are here and all their team-mates are in China. I didn't even know they celebrated Christmas. Maybe they don't?

Note to self: find out about Chinese Christmas traditions, if they exist.)

Anyway, there's meant to be a few more people coming. Don't know where they're going to sleep, if anywhere. Maybe Ryo will rig up a tent in the garden, though that would block the beydish which is now in constant use. The most common battle is actually Da Shan vs Tithi, because Tithi doesn't pay attention to where he's going most of the time (and has taken to following Da Shan around too). I think the current score is seven-four to Tithi, which is _ridiculous._

I'm going to have to fight that guy again soon or else my title as the strongest Legendary blader is going to be called into question.

\- oh, but I'm not allowed to fight Gingka for another few days. Drat.

That would be a good present for me, if Gingka has me – free rein to fight him whenever I want. Though in fairness I already have that, so maybe that's not so good.

Huh. This whole present thing is way more difficult than I thought.


	15. Door 15

**Voice Log 015**

 **Date** : December 20XX

 **Time** : 19.43

 **Place** : Old Coliseum

"More people" turned out to be another two people. Which means there are twenty-six people across three houses.

 _WHY._

On the plus side, Kenta was delighted to see Sora again. I didn't even know he was in the area, but apparently Tsubasa found him wandering around in town and invited him. He, Da Shan and Zeo are getting along like brown-and-yellow-haired houses on fire, if that's the right phrase. It's weird, but not as disorienting as I thought it would be. The three of them tend to hang around with different people, so normally it's easy to work out where they're going to be.

The other person, to my enormous confusion, was _Ryuto_.

Yeah, I know. Not really someone I expected to be nearby. Turns out Dynamis and Tithi have been in contact with him because he keeps coming back to Mist Mountain to try and find the treasure or so he says, and so they see him quite a lot. They figured he wouldn't have anyone to spend the holidays with and asked Ryo if they could invite him. Ryo being Ryo (or rather, Mr Irritating Phoenix being Mr Irritating Phoenix) said yes, of course, because he'd never say there were too many people for dinner.

Definitely need to fight Ryuto at some point. He looks an awful lot like Ryuga. Maybe they're related? He won't be as powerful as Ryuga (it pains me to admit it but I don't think anyone _could_ be as powerful as Ryuga got in the end), but who knows?

Ryuto and Sora have joined the people staying with Kenta, so at least there's no more people actually sleeping over at Gingka's (we're pretty much out of beds at this point), but it's still far too noisy so I've come out here to get away from them. Hopefully Tsubasa can get away and join me in a bit, then at least I can do something useful like training. I've almost completed that new special move, so I can surprise Gingka with it when I'm allowed to battle him again.

I'm still stuck on a present for Zeo, which is awkward because I've only got four days left. Might try to pick Tsubasa's brains about it – he knows the guy a bit better than me.

Not sure what we're doing with Ryuto and Sora for the present thing, as they arrived late. Maybe they'll just have to get presents for each other.

Oh, Tsubasa's here at last. Looks like he's brought someone else along too. That wasn't part of the arrangement! Though at least I'll have someone else to fight. As long as it isn't Yuu or Tithi. I don't mind fighting them, but they'd definitely tell everyone this is where I disappear off to and then I'd never get a moment's peace.

No, it's not Yuu or Tithi... hang on. That's Ryuto. What's _he_ doing here with Tsubasa?

Well, I'm definitely going to fight him now.


	16. Door 16

**Voice Log 016**

 **Date:** December 20XX

 **Time:** 21.04

 **Place:** Front room, Madoka's house

Have somehow managed to volunteer myself to help with making gingerbread houses.

There are an enormous number of things wrong with that sentence, starting with the fact that whilst I love gingerbread, I'm not a fan of turning it into houses. They look twee and ridiculous, and I don't really want any part of it. But the other alternative was helping to put up paper chains at Gingka's or helping to wrap presents with Hikaru. Haha. No. Give your head a shake, not happening.

It is a very sad day when my best option is getting stuck in a kitchen with flour all over my hair.

Blame Mei Mei for that bit.

At least there's only five of us – me, Mei Mei, Madoka, Chao Xin and Kenta. Sora's here too, but he's been banned from the kitchen ever since he set fire to the ginger. Not the gingerbread. The _ginger._

Still not quite sure how he managed that.

So he's outside in the garden messing around with Cyber Pegasus or whatever his blade is called. But yeah. With five of us, the possibilities for chaos (now that Sora has been banned) are significantly smaller than anything currently happening at Gingka's house.

Nice to know that you approve of my choice, Leone. You have paws, you can't even hold a spoon to mix stuff, so a fat lot of help you're being. Now that I think about it, you can't even eat the gingerbread so I've got no idea why you're so enthusiastic about it.

OH!

I've just had one of the best ideas I've ever had.

You see, gingerbread _houses_ are overrated. Gingerbread _beyblades..._ now that's another thing entirely.

I wonder if they'll let me?

Tough, I'm going to do it anyway.

Chao Xin is giving me a worried look. I think he's scared of my sudden grin. Hah. He has no idea.

I'm going to make Leone out of gingerbread. I'm going to make _all_ the blades out of gingerbread. Just watch me.


	17. Door 17

**Voice Log 017**

 **Date:** December 20XX

 **Time:** 20.23

 **Place:** My room, Gingka's house

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without some disasters.

Considering that his dad is the one who calls himself "The Immortal Phoenix", turns out Gingka's the one who keeps setting things on fire. Yeah, I know it was Sora yesterday. Today it was Gingka.

Twice.

Hikaru is not pleased with him. I'm not sure if this is because Gingka almost set fire to the house _,_ if it's because he promised he'd make dinner for everyone who was in the house today (so that Hikaru could have an evening to relax before the craziness of cooking for _twenty-six_ people for Christmas lunch/dinner/whenever we're having it) and then ended up just making hamburgers with Benkei, or if it's because one of the fires burnt some of her favourite decorations.

This is why light bulbs were invented. Candles _burn things._

Gingka decided it would be "fun" to light some of the (many) candles that got set out along with all the decorations. It did look sort of nice, but we were just getting ready to start eating when Tsubasa suddenly yelled and pretty much flew across the room to grab one of the candles that was sitting on the side underneath a cupboard. The bottom of the cupboard was black and starting to smoke – a few more minutes and it would have gone up in flames.

Did anyone learn from almost catching fire? Nope. All of us (okay, fine, including me) forgot that the rest of the candles were still burning on the side table until Gingka went to go and clear the plates away and discovered that two of them had burned all the way down and set fire to the little decorative wreaths they were sat in. Hikaru was furious. Apparently they'd belonged to her mother. In the words of Yuu: "Oops?"

At that point, I gave up and grabbed some food to bring up here. I've already escaped death twice today, I don't want it to get to third-time-lucky.

I'm almost surprised to find myself _not_ in the wardrobe at this point. But I think I can hear Kenta yelling something from downstairs about washing up, and if I hide they will definitely look for me this time. Apparently there's been a rota of who has to wash up all this time? No-one told me until tonight when it _just so happened_ to be my turn.

At least it's close enough to Christmas that I won't have to wash up from _that_ meal.

Note to self: wrap Zeo's present before tomorrow morning.

* * *

 _A/N: Unlike the other chapters of this story so far, this one is actually based on real events – I was involved in two small fires on Monday that played out almost exactly like this (Tsubasa is me, Gingka is one of my friends who was cooking me and two other friends dinner). The main difference was that my friend did not make hamburgers – dinner was delicious and Jane Austen-themed! We had roast partridge, spiced mushrooms, vegetable pie, baked apples and everlasting syllabub._


	18. Door 18

**Voice Log 018**

 **Date:** December 20XX

 **Time:** 23:50

 **Place:** My room, Gingka's house

It's weirdly quiet. I know it's late, but I can't even hear any cars outside the window. In fact, it's quiet enough that I know at least four people in this house who should be asleep are awake, because I can't hear them snoring.

There's so many people in the house, or over at Madoka's or Kenta's place. I'm still not completely sure how everyone has fitted in, and I don't even want to know how Gingka managed to find blankets for all of us. All I'll say is thank goodness I was here weeks ago so I've actually got a bed. Because of how many people there are (and because Kenta's parents have a few people staying over too) we've all been reshuffled. Aguma and Bao are now on the floor in the dining room (they had a fight about who got the sofa, which was decided by Chao Xin crashing out on it, ha). Da Shan is in the kitchen, I think. Dynamis is sharing a room with Gingka and Masamune and I pity the poor guy. I thought I was going to be sharing with Chi Yun and Benkei, but Benkei's one of the few staying with Kenta. I'm actually sharing with Ryuto and Tsubasa, but both of them are asleep already so they can't overhear me.

At least there's going to be lots of food tomorrow. That is, if I get some, as Gingka, Masamune, Benkei and Chris are in the house. Maybe I should sneak into the kitchen and grab a plate and then go find somewhere quiet to eat? Might even let Tsubasa and Da Shan join me, though Tsubasa will probably come with Yuu and/or Tithi attached so let's not.

Huh. It's midnight. Guess that means it's Christmas. Feels just like another day. That figures.

...Happy Christmas Leone.

* * *

 _A/N: It's past midnight here in Britain, so Happy Christmas from me as well!_


	19. Door 19

**Voice Log 019**

 **Date:** December 20XX

 **Time:** 08.30

 **Place:** Gingka's living room

 _HAPPY CHRISTMAS, KYOUYA!_

What.

 _Happy Christmas, Kyouya._

 _He kind of looks like he's been hit in the face with a brick, don't you think, Yuu?_

 _Haha, you're right, Tithi!_

What.

What is this. I do not understand.

 _We were waiting for you, Kyouya. We needed all of us here so we could start opening the presents._

I thought you were on my side, Tsubasa?

 _Come on, come on, sit down, I wanna open the presents!_

 _Yo-yo got up REALLY late, we've been waiting ages._

DON'T CALL ME YO-YO!

 _Okay, okay, that's enough, all of you. Kyouya, if you sit down we can get started._

Fine, fine.

 _First, I've got a present for all of you. I'm very pleased to announce that in three months' time, the WBBA is going to hold the first selection tournaments for the second World Championships!_

 _REALLY?_

 _YOU'RE JOKING!_

 _No, I'm not joking, Chris. The WBBA has put the infrastructure in place, and the official announcement will be made tomorrow morning. So all of you got a sneak peek, but I thought you might like to know as soon as all the arrangements had been made._

 _What about teams? Are there going to be rounds?_

 _How's the tournament going to run this time?_

 _Are there blocks again? Those were sort of okay but round robin would mean we fought EVERYONE and that would be so cool._

 _Yeah, I agree with Chao Xin!_

 _Me too!_

 _Nah, I liked the block format, it kept the tournament moving quickly and made it really exciting. It meant that if you had a specific team you wanted to face from the other block, you had to fight harder to get to the point where you might battle them._

 _Okay, okay, okay! Enough questions. All the specifics will be answered tomorrow at the press conference. All I'll tell you now is that yes, it's team-based, but it doesn't have to be country teams. You can mix it up a bit if you want, the same as Savannah did last time. It should make for some_ very _interesting combinations of bladers._

Hang on. So does that mean Tsubasa, me, Da Shan and Dynamis could form a team, for example? And compete for ourselves, not for Japan or China or... wherever Dynamis is actually from.

 _Yes, Kyouya, that's the right idea!_

 _Oh this is going to be so cool! I can't wait!_

 _Can we open presents now?_

 _Hey, Dad? Are we going to find out who our "Santa" was when we get our presents?_

 _Doesn't that sort of defy the point of it being secret, Gingka?_

 _Actually, I kind of like the idea of finding out, Chris. Otherwise it's like a complete stranger got it for us._

 _Tsubasa's got a good point. Tell you what, as all the presents are already under the tree, go and find the gift with your name on. We'll open them one by one and the person who bought it can reveal themselves when the present has been unwrapped. Sound good?_

 _Okay Dad!_

 _Yuu? I've got yours here._

 _Hey, Da Shan? I think this is yours._

 _Yo, Zeo! Catch!_

Careful with that! What if it's breakable?

 _Oh, whoops. Didn't think of that. Sorry!_

 _This one's Hikaru's._

 _I've got Masamune's here._

 _Oh look! I found my one!_

 _Hey, was that the doorbell?_

 _I think so, Chi Yun. I'll go and see who it is._

 _Dynamis, before you go, here's your present._

 _Thank you, Madoka._

 _When you've found your present, come and sit down again so that the others can move more freely._

There are seriously too many people in this room right now.

 _I'm going to have to agree with you there, Kyouya._

 _Oh! Got mine._

 _Here's mine!_

Hey. I don't have a parcel.

 _Really? That's odd. Hey, guys? Who had Kyouya?_

 _That would be me._

Da Shan? Oh, okay. That wasn't what I expected.

 _Um... where's Kyouya's present?_

 _Oh, it's here. In fact, it's just arri-_

 _Heya, Kyouya. Long time no see._

…

…

No. That's _impossible._

… N- _Nile?_


	20. Door 20

**Voice Log 020**

 **Date:** December 20XX

 **Time:** 13.33

 **Place:** Front garden, Gingka's house

Okay. I admit defeat. Which as you should know is not really my thing.

But seriously. I can't beat that.

 _Da Shan flew Nile and Demure in to Japan just so they could be here with me – with all of us – for Christmas._

That was his present.

I don't even know what to say. I definitely didn't say thank you, and Hikaru clipped me around the ear for that but I think Da Shan understood.

I had to put up with Yuu and Tithi war-dancing around the room yelling "Yo-yo's got friends, Yo-yo's got friends!" until Nile glared at them and they shut up pretty quick.

But they're here. Which considering that they were meant to be stuck in Africa because Nile's job doesn't exactly pay well and Demure doesn't even have a valid passport now...

Yeah. That was a surprise.

I'm getting sappy. Drat. But this was probably one of the best Christmases I've ever had. At least I'm with some sensible people this year. Aguma, Tsubasa, Dynamis, Bao, Da Shan, Nile, Demure and me make a pretty good team even if I don't like being on teams.

Hmm. Maybe I should suggest we make a team for the next World Championship. Perfect. We'll win, of course, though I'll have to make sure that we get paired up against Gingka's team at some point so that I can actually beat him.

Oh! It's Christmas, I'm allowed to fight him again! _Excellent._

… though I think I have to fight Nile, Demure, Da Shan (again) and Tithi first. Mistletoe laws.

Who cares. I'll beat them all. I'll never stop winning, not with Leone at my side.

I can take Nile and Demure to visit Wolf Canyon so that they can see all the places I told them about. We never actually got the chance during the World Championships. We could train there, though the wolves are pretty friendly now (they see me WAY too often). The others could come too. I'll bet what's left of my jacket that Dynamis has never had to climb out of a canyon to get stronger... though he does live on a mountain so maybe?

I'll take Benkei with us, of course. Breaking up Team Wild Fang when we've only just got back together would be stupid.

Listen to me, planning _group training_ for a team that doesn't even exist. What's happened to me?

...Shut up, Leone.

 _Hey Kyouya. What are you doing out here?_

Oh. Hey, Nile.

 _Too many people inside, huh?_

Yes. There's been too many people for weeks now.

 _How many are there?_

Twenty six. Twenty eight including you and Demure.

 _Ugh. That's not even... nah, I'm staying out here with you. Much more sensible._

I don't even know where you're going to sleep.

 _I don't suppose there's any bunk beds around?_

Hahaha! No, I don't think so.

 _Shame. I've kind of missed it._

… me too. Don't you dare tell anyone I said that out loud.

 _Of course._

Where's Demure?

 _Inside, watching everyone else play with their presents and talking with Chi-Yun and Hyoma._ _I figured I didn't have a present and you'd already come out here, so I didn't have any reason to stay._ _Masamune is wildly jealous of Zeo's present, you know. I didn't have you pegged for a baker._

I'm not. I just... making all the blades out of gingerbread was taking forever, so I just made his, Masamune's and Toby's. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I wasn't expecting him to be _that_ happy about it.

 _They're pretty cool, if I'm honest. I want one of Horuseus. Two, actually, so I can eat one._

New Year's present.

 _Really?_

Yeah. I need to make Leone anyway. Might as well make a whole batch. I'll make a Horuseus or two for you.

 _Thanks!_

You can help if you want.

 _Huh? How?_

You can do the washing up afterwards.

 _Kyouya..._

Oh stop rolling your eyes at me and fight me, Nile.

 _Oh so that's how it is?_

We're stuck underneath another bunch of mistletoe, we kind of have to at this point. Didn't realise Ryo put it out here too.

 _Fine, then. You asked for it, so don't you DARE hold back._

Same to you. Three!

 _Two!_

One!

 _LET IT RIP!_


	21. Door 21

**Voice Log 021**

 **Date:** December 20XX

 **Time:** 15.50

 **Place:** Dining room, Gingka's house

So.

Much.

Food.

I have never seen quite that much food in one place before and considering that I've lived with Gingka, Masamune and Benkei for weeks, that's saying something. Hikaru absolutely out-did herself – well, her and Hyoma. Don't think she could have managed entirely on her own – she doesn't have enough hands.

Ryuto, Kenta, Gingka and Yuki are doing the washing up, Tithi and Dynamis are clearing up all the wrapping paper that got left everywhere, and Demure, Benkei and I are tucked away in a corner of the living room, trying to avoid the game of Charades that's going on at the other end of the room with everyone else. Nile, being Nile, has gone and joined in, and he's weirdly good at it? At least, that's what it looks like from here.

Huh. What do you know. Zeo's still holding onto his present.

 _That's because Masamune tried to eat them when Zeo put them down last time._

Seriously?

 _Yeah. Zeo wasn't happy. Masamune tried to justify it by saying that gingerbread has to be eaten at some point._

That's not true. You can keep it for ages if it's in the packaging.

 _Really? I didn't know that._

Yeah, I had a gingerbread man in my house which sat on one of the cupboard shelves for three years before he got eaten.

 _I guess there's nothing in it that could really go off?_

Not really. But it's not really a good idea to eat it when it's _that_ old. We were keeping ours because my grandmother decorated it really nicely. He kind of looked like me.

 _We should make gingerbread men for everyone. The blades are pretty tricky, but everyone could make a gingerbread person._

You really want twenty-six people in the kitchen making gingerbread at the same time, Demure?

 _...no. Okay, that was a stupid idea, sorry._

Benkei, why are you glaring at me?

Okay, _fine,_ we'll make Wild Fang gingerbread men. Maybe one or two of the others can come in too. But not everyone!


	22. Door 22

**Voice Log 022**

 **Date** : December 20XX

 **Time:** 22.00

 **Place:** My room, Gingka's house

Finally bed time.

Today seems like one of the longest days of my life, but – and I refuse to admit this out loud to anyone else – I had fun.

There were so many people that I'm not entirely sure who ended up giving who what, but regardless of that, there are now twenty-four very pleased people who got surprisingly good presents. Tsubasa got a proper leather falconry glove from Bao. It goes all the way up to his shoulder so that his eagle can land on it without ripping his clothes or his skin. Da Shan (hilariously, Aguma had him) got this really thick coat that Aguma said would make training in the mountains in winter more tolerable. Aguma himself got a huge jar of pickled plums because apparently he loves them and they don't make them where he and Bao come from.

Let me see, who else can I remember?

Chao Xin got a proper Chinese tea set, which I thought was very weird, but he seemed really pleased. Mei Mei gave it to him, I think.

Someone got a really nice, strong travelling bag with loads of pockets with useful things in – I think that was Chris who got that, which makes sense because he said he's going travelling after New Year. Sora got travelling stuff as well, from Kenta, apparently because Sora keeps getting lost and running out of supplies.

I was expecting Yuu to get ice-cream or something dumb like that, but Hikaru actually gave him a camping cook book, which I didn't think Yuu would like until I realised that Yuu's been going off on these training camps on his own and doesn't really know how to cook properly. I'm surprised he's not dead yet.

Lots of camping/cooking/travelling related stuff, now that I think about it. Maybe that says something for how separated we're all going to be after New Year.

By some weird twist of what Dynamis would call fate and I call coincidence or Ryo Hagane cheating, Benkei and Gingka got each other, and both got each other vouchers to the new burger place that's opening in the shopping centre (which I am still banned from).

Can't remember what Masamune got. I think it was from Hyoma. King got a book about ancient legends of Europe from Dynamis, which figures.

Ryuto gave Kenta the launcher from Ryuga's old blade, the one he had before L-Drago. Kenta cried, and so did Yuu. It was the only time everyone got really quiet today.

Nile and Demure didn't get anything because no-one except Da Shan knew they were coming. Maybe I should get something for them for New Year? Not sure if I'll have time, though, especially as I'm still banned from the shopping centre. Tomorrow, I'm going to see if I can barricade the sensible people in the kitchen to make gingerbread things.

This should be interesting...


	23. Door 23

**Voice Log 023**

 **Date:** December 20XX

 **Time:** 17.50

 **Place:** My room, Gingka's house

Back in the wardrobe. Yes, _again._

Sadly, there is rather less space than there usually is, due to the fact that I'm not actually on my own in here.

 _Who are you talking to, Kyouya?_

No-one, Nile. It's a voice recorder.

 _I didn't know you kept voice logs. How long have you been doing that?_

A couple of years, maybe? Don't really know why I started doing it, but it was mostly to track my training.

 _Oh, that's a good idea! Maybe I should try that._

If you want to, I guess? Ow! Aguma, you're on my foot!

 _Sorry._

 _Shh! They'll hear us!_

Yeah. We're hiding. I don't know how we managed it, but somehow eight very sensible people when locked in a kitchen away from the _not_ sensible people, mixed with several kilos of flour and sugar, can cause more mess than all twenty-eight of us combined.

 _We trashed the kitchen making gingerbread beyblades, Kyouya, there's no need to sugar-coat it._

Thank you, Bao, I'm _so glad_ you summed that up for us.

So now me, Nile, Aguma, Bao and Tsubasa are hiding in the wardrobe whilst Da Shan, Dynamis and Demure -

 _Hey, all their names begin with D!_

Shut up, Nile. As I was saying, Da Shan, Dynamis and Demure try to control the wrath of Hikaru, Madoka, Hyoma and everyone who wanted to come and join in but we wouldn't let them. And yeah, we trashed the kitchen. I didn't even know flour could stick to the ceiling like that.

 _Whereas_ I _didn't know that ginger burns. Who knew?_

Don't remind me...

 _The beyblades tasted good, though. You're a really good baker, Kyouya._

Thanks? I think? Your eagle was pretty good too – the blade and the bird. I didn't know you could get gingerbread to layer like feathers. Anyway, Operation Gingerbread was from one point of view a roaring success – gingerbread beyblades work really well, they all looked amazing (apart from the Kronos that fell apart but even that tasted good) – and an absolute disaster from the other point of view.

 _Hey, Aguma? What's that you're holding?_

 _Oh, I grabbed the last rack of gingerbread out of the oven just as Hikaru and Hyoma came in. Figured we should have a bargaining chip but now it's in the wardrobe with us._

We are locked in, though. And Dynamis is the only one who knows I hide here, so unless he escapes from kitchen duty soon, we're going to be stuck here for dinner as well. So at least we'll have something to eat.

 _True. What was in that batch, Aguma?_

 _I think it was Libra, Pegasus, the second Hades Crown and Kronos, Orion and one of Tsubasa's attempts at Leone – oh, and all the gingerbread versions of us._

Give me gingerbread me.

 _Kyouya, it's dark in here, I can't exactly tell... oh, wait, found you. Here, Bao, I think this is Hades Crown, you should eat that._

 _What about you, Aguma?_

 _I don't want to eat Kronos, it actually looked good this time round. I'll eat Orion._

 _Want to share Pegasus and what's left of Leone with me, Tsubasa?_

 _Okay. You know, it's very weird to think of Kyouya eating himself._

Shut up, I taste delicious.

 _I think Kyouya's been talking to himself for too long..._

 _It's okay, Tsubasa, I'm sure Dynamis will come and rescue us soon... at least, I hope so..._


	24. Door 24

**Voice Log 024**

 **Date:** December 20XX

 **Time:** 00.43

 **Place:** The _roof_ , Gingka's house.

FOUR HOURS.

That's how long Dynamis waited to let us out.

FOUR.

HOURS.

Nile did point out that four hours was about how long it took for another mini-disaster to happen and distract everyone so that Dynamis could actually come and get us, but that's called being logical and I don't feel like being logical at the moment.

Which might have quite a lot to do with why I'm sat on the roof right now, but I'm ignoring that.

We're all on washing-up duty for the next week, which isn't fair at all. At least with eight of us it'll get done really quickly, but that still doesn't mean it's fair. We could have cleaned up the kitchen perfectly if they'd just given us another couple of hours, then no-one would have had anything to complain about.

… except possibly the burn mark on the ceiling, but that was Aguma's fault.

I didn't know flour explodes like that. Apparently Bao _did._ So why he didn't warn Aguma is a mystery to me.

New Year's Eve tomorrow, whatever that might mean. Or is it today? Yuu and Tithi want a big party. So do the Americans (and European? I just count King as an American, he hangs around with them enough), and Tsubasa, weirdly. Of all people, it was Gingka who wanted something smaller.

Small with twenty-eight people is somewhat subjective, I think.

It's getting pretty cold up here. I should go back inside, but there's so many people that I'm not even sure if I have a bed any more. At least up here there's space.

Must remember to take Nile and Demure out to Wolf Canyon at some point. We could stay there overnight, get away from the chaos here for a bit.

I can't actually remember why I originally decided I'd come here fore Christmas/Solstice/Hannukah/whatever holiday they bribed me with. All I know is that I ended up staying way longer than I ever expected. Not sure what that says about me.


	25. Door 25

**Voice Log 025**

 **Date:** December? January? I don't actually know right now

 **Time:** Nearly midnight

 **Place:** Back garden, Gingka's house.

I was not expecting a bonfire.

Then again, I don't think _anyone_ was expecting a bonfire until our resident Americans found the bags of marshmallows in the cupboard and insisted on burning them. Sorry, _toasting_ them.

So of course we needed a fire.

And so, _for some reason_ , we let Bao and Aguma do it.

Note: _do not allow Bao access to things that burn, he is unnervingly good at it._

I probably should have known that, if I'm honest.

I have no idea what time it is because Nile has stolen my watch, so I'm just going to have to guess when it's midnight by what everyone else is doing. I don't think it's passed yet because I can't hear any bells ringing nearby.

No-one could be bothered to cook, so we're just using up what's left of the stuff we bought for the Christmas meal (which there isn't very much of, mostly due to the additional two people who've been here). But there's still more than enough for everyone, somehow. And though I'm never going to let Masamune hear it, toasted marshmallows are actually pretty good. I don't get why he keeps setting his on fire, though. I don't want to eat charcoal. Next year, I'll make sure I'm the one in charge, I make them the best.

What on earth is Yuu doing? Oh, I think he's trying to toast Libra.

Why.

Yuu, you can't give a blade the power of fire just by putting it into a bonfire.

 _Ryuga did! He put L-Drago into a volcano twice and it came out with cool new powers._

I... I really don't think that's how it works, Yuu. If it was, don't you think I'd have done it already?

 _Didn't you do exactly that, but with tornadoes, though, Kyouya?_

What are you talking about, Demure?

 _The Valley of Storms. You pushed Leone into the tornadoes and it came out stronger. So why shouldn't it work with fire?_

Because Leone is already a blade that can summon tornadoes, I was just making him stronger? Libra summons _sound,_ Yuu, not fire.

 _L-Drago summoned lightning._

 _He's got a point, Kyouya..._

Not you too, Nile. I'm still convinced this is a very bad idea.

 _Wait, isn't that the bells?_

 _It's nearly midnight!_

Really? Oh, yes, I can hear the bells now.

What do I want to happen next year? (Or this year? Is it actually midnight yet?) I want to fight Gingka again, properly this time, and beat him in front of everyone. I want to join the World Championships, and win it along with my team.

Ugh. _Teams._

At least they're going to be sensible people this time.

Okay, it's the same people as last time, plus a couple of extras, including one who I am rapidly discovering is not as sensible as I took him for.

No, Leone, I'm not going to say that, that's _soppy._

Shut up, I'm not listening to you.

Shut. Up.

FINE. But only because you're being annoying.

Next year, I'm going to try sticking around with everyone a bit more. Perhaps some of them aren't as terrible as I thought they'd be.

… I had _fun_ at Christmas. And making the gingerbread. And having all the mistletoe battles. And going out to the Old Coliseum with Tsubasa and Ryuto. And even fighting Aguma and getting banned from the shopping centre was kind of fun in a weird way.

What is _wrong_ with me today? Leone, are you trying to do something to me? What do you mean, no? You mean _I'm_ the one who -

 _It's midnight! Happy New Year!_

 _Hurrah! Happy New Year, everyone! Happy New Year, Gingka! Happy New Year, Tithi! Happy New Year, Tsubasa! Happy New..._

 _That's going to take Yuu a while, I think. Happy New Year, Kyouya._

Happy New Year, Nile

… Happy New Year, everyone.

 _._

 _._

 _Kyouya, you're **smiling**._

Shut up, Nile.


End file.
